Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League (1955-1956)
Tombstone
Born: 1955 – Affiliation change from Terre Haute Phillies
Folded: July 3, 19561Shores, Bill. “Huts Bring Down Curtain On Short Season”. The Tribune (Terre Haute, IN). July 4, 1956
First Game: April 26, 1955 (L 9-5 @ Keokuk Kernels)
Last Game: July 3, 1956 (W 5-0 vs. Keokuk Kernels)
Three-I League Championships: None
Stadium
Memorial Stadium
Opened: 1924
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Paul Frisz
Major League Affiliation: Detroit Tigers
Attendance
Background
The Terre Haute Huts of 1955-1956 were the last professional baseball team to make their home in Terre Haute, Indiana. Between 1919 and 1956, The Wabash Valley metropolis was a long-time fixture in the so-called Three-I League (short for Illinois-Indiana-Illinois) between 1919 and 1956.
The Huts replaced the Terre Haute Phillies, a consistently superb farm club of the Philadelphia Phillies that won three Three-I League pennants and two playoff championships between 1946 and 1954. Philadelphia directly owned the Terre Haute club during the era. But Philadelphia management returned the keys to the Terre Haute franchise after suffering a $49,000 loss on the team during the summer of 1949.2ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Terre Haute Phils Financially Broke”. The Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN). November 2, 1954 The Phils’ withdrawal threw pro ball’s future in Terre Haute into doubt. But ultimately a drive for local ownership spearheaded by local hotelier and baseball fanatic Paul Frisz restored the club to Three-I League membership for the 1955. The Detroit Tigers signed on as Terre Haute’s new Major League parent club.
The Name Game
Two weeks before opening day of the 1955 season, Paul Frisz announced that local barber Ralph Nicholas had won a Name The Team contest to replace the old Phillies branding. The Terre Haute nine would be known as the “Huts” in 1955.3NO BYLINE. “Overmire Lauds 7 New Players”. The Tribune (Terre Haute, IN). April 13, 1955
Though The Terre Haute Tribune would go on to use the “Huts” name consistently during the next two summers, both baseball-reference.com and Baseball America’s Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball refer to Terre Haute’s 1955-56 Three-I League club as the Terre Haute “Tigers”, after the team’s parent club
Midseason Meltdown
After placing 6th among the Three-I League’s 8 clubs during the 1955 season, the Huts returned under Frisz’s local ownership for a second season in the spring of 1956. The club struggled financially from the outset and by June Terre Haute’s perilous financial position had become a major headache for the league. A local Save The Team fundraising effort fizzled, as did an effort to move the club to Davenport, Iowa. Ultimately, Terre Haute withdrew from the league on July 3rd, 1953 at the season’s midway point.
Trivia
Former Terre Haute Huts owner Paul Frisz went on to become one of the sixteen founding members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) at Cooperstown, New York on August 10th, 1971.
Terre Haute Huts Shop
Links
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